‘Farewell to the Flesh’ is the new EP from the American melodic black metal band Dawn of Ashes. This is also the band’s third release since changing their style from industrial/EBM to black metal back in 2008.

The intro to the title track ‘Farewell to the Flesh’ features Fear Factory -style drums mixed in with Dimmu Borgir-esque symphonic elements and the odd guitar riff. The atmospheric keyboard sounds and the vocal style reminds me of ‘Chapter III’ -era Agathodaimon.

There’s quite a few remixes on this EP, most of which are re-worked versions of songs from the previous album ‘Genocide Chapters’. The first of these is K. Bathory’s mix of ‘Transformation Within Fictional Mutation’ which offers a very confusing atmosphere featuring the eerie ambience and the guitar sounds of the original version along with some very odd sounding distorted vocals.

The next three tracks are all remixes of the same song ‘Carnal Consummation in the Empty Space’. The different versions range from: the bizarre electronic mix by Falling Skies, which would only work as a soundtrack to a videogame, the dance-floor -orientated, re-vocalized version by Die Sektor to the blackened electronica version by To Mega Therion which reminds me of ‘Inri’-era Psyclon Nine. The latter is by far the most enjoyable remix.

The last remix is the Juggernaut version of ‘Seething the Flesh in the River ov Phlegethon’ which is confusing at best. Then it’s back to good old symphonic black metal for the last two tracks. The main highlight is ‘Torture Device Part 2’ which invokes an eerie atmosphere akin to that of a Gothic style horror film.
3/5
Iza Raittila